Very sad start to the Winter Olympics:
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic … 513595.stm
If you see the vid, there is absolutely no way he could have survived that… he comes off, hits a metal pillar and just stops dead! 
Jeez, that really is a shame. Kinda tough to appreciate how dangerous it must be and how talented the athletes are when we’re watching from the comfort of our living rooms–definitely serious business.
Yes it’s a tragic event that certainly casts a pall over the day’s events thus far.
It’s interesting to look back over the history of the Winter Olympics, back when the luge was introduced to the games in 1964 a young participant died in a training run as well, there were calls at that time for the sport to be removed from the games owing to its danger.
ca.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/new … &type=lgns
Should be of interest to learn the findings of the investigation taking place into the death, one imagines that there will be many questions asked as to why a metal pillar would be in the position that it is, but I guess the speculation on that stuff should wait until they have a chance to look at the different aspects of the track and the competition.
Your heart goes out to his family, terrible thing to have happen to someone who was seeking out his personal dreams.
Theres actually a whole line of the pillars… He loses it at the top of the turn, leaves the luge, and hits one of the middle pillars. Where he actually hit the pillar is on a straight!
The worst thing is, its the final corner of the final run!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ArqIszk2po)
Wow… nice safety standards VANOC…
Obviously its a ‘graphic’ video…
One of the issues is that the Luge track is the fastest track ever built.
Not the issue here. The issue here is some fucking tard put poles on the outside of a corner without anything to protect the athletes.
That is so very sad. Does anyone else smell LAWSUIT ?
Hopefully no one gets uppity and sues. It’s a huge tragedy, but unfortunately there’s always going to be a certain degree of danger in sports like this. Let’s say the pillars were padded, as someone suggested earlier… he was going 145km/h, poor guy was screwed the second he left the track.
The pillars should have been on the other side or had a barrier preventing athletes from flying off the track and smashing into the pillars. If they had done that he would likely have survived.
I hope they sue.
Its the American way…I bet there was an American ambulance chasing lawyer looking up the dead fellows family before his body was cold! 
The obviously solution is to put make the track a tube or tunnel shape, where the bottom half is ice like an existing track, then the top half is plexiglass. While it would make it a lot harder for spectators to enjoy it, it would be awesome because people would be able to potentially ride all the way around the tube.
I’d go on that ride.
Did anyone see the douche bag IOC/vanoc members with their fake tears?
Some kind of netting or something on that side to stop him from flying into the poll would’ve been nice. It’s a tragedy for the young man to die like that but it’s a dangerous sport.
the lawsuit should be for the fact they are actually airing his death repeatedly on air . have some respect for the family.
It’s the news, they have no respect.
If it were the Daily News, they would just forget to print the death announcement. And the notice of the funeral and memorial service. Yup. The news has no respect.
Have to agree with you there and they have the insensitivity to show as much of the graphic footage as they can. Horrible and shameful but sadly, sensationalism rules, doesn’t it?
Interesting perspective on today’s sad event from Glen Hauptman, his son Brendan has trained on that track probably more than anyone else.
He offered up this to the Vancouver Sun.
vancouversun.com/sports/2010 … story.html
(it’s the second half of the story)